Ryan McBride/Staff photographer Signs mark little lanes for entry way of different areas at the Eliot Antique Tractor & Engine show Saturday morning in Eliot Maine.

ELIOT, Maine — The art of the skillet toss was just one of the wonderments on display at the 18th annual Eliot Antique Tractor and Engine Show in Eliot, Maine on Saturday.

Crowds of people packed into the Raitt Homestead Farm to admire hundreds of beautifully restored tractors from all over New England. Some took pictures of the machines as they sparkled and roared underneath the sun while others drove along dirt pathways, winding their way through the throng.

But amid the smell of fresh-cut grass and gasoline, a crowd of women vied for the title of champion in the third edition of the ladies’ skillet toss.

“I’d say it’s quite similar to bowling,” said Julie Munson, the defending champion and an assistant field hockey coach at Harvard. “You have to have the proper footwork, a nice release and you really have to visualize.”

Munson was there with her younger sister Michelle, both Dover natives who come out to the Raitt Homestead Farm each year for the show. The skillet toss is one competition that they look forward to, though they admit that there is certainly a healthy sibling rivalry involved.

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John Newbegin of Hampton Falls works on his miniature engines at the Eliot Antique Tractor & Engine show Saturday morning in Eliot, Maine. (Ryan McBride/Staff photographer)

“Of course there is,” said Michelle Munson, an elementary school teacher in Somersworth. “I mean, I already knew. She’s the returning champ, so I knew I had it against me there. I gave it my all.”

The competition began three years ago after Lisa Raitt, who runs the show with her husband Tom, was looking for an activity specifically tailored to the women coming to the farm. She said that she was joking around with her friends about a skillet toss, and then decided to try it out. The event, which drew a few dozen enthusiastic family members and friends as spectators, has been growing ever since. The skillet weighs three and a half pounds and mimics the cast-iron variety, though Raitt says that she uses a steel one for the competition — the cast iron will break upon landing otherwise.

There is a method to the skillet-tossing madness. Contestants are limited to throwing underhand. Tossing it like a discus is not allowed, and some believe that a certain grip is better than others.

“The cooking side in or the cooking side out makes a difference,” said Michelle Munson, who prefers the cooking side in. “It does matter the way that you hold the skillet.”

Competitors were broken up into three age groups, with the winners each receiving a replica dish inlaid with a gold plaque. Julia Munson said that she would have a kitchen full of them before long. Her final toss soared an impressive 53 feet, six inches, besting the runners-up, including her sister. It was not an easy triumph, said Julia, who knew that she would have to execute a perfect throw to reclaim her prize.

“There was absolute worry,” Munson said. “Before I stepped up to the line, I had to really focus on throwing. Not only hard, but accurate.”

The skillet toss is just one of several ways for people to get involved in the tractor and engine show. Customers lined up for ice cream and other concessions. Pathways were lined with booths offering tractor rides, raffle tickets and more. On one end of the far, children participated in a mini-tractor pull as family members looked on. It is all part of an inclusive atmosphere that Raitt says makes the event so popular.

“It is multigenerational,” Raitt said. “There’s something for everybody. I love seeing little kids’ faces light up when they see a tractor or an engine running. And then you watch the grandfather who remembers using that piece of equipment or recalls his father using that. It opens up a whole other dialogue for families.”

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Rod Powers of Farmington enjoys his a day with his ten year old beagle, her name Snoopy at the Eliot Antique Tractor & Engine show Saturday morning in Eliot Maine. (Ryan McBride/Staff photographer)

That dialogue between tractor enthusiasts, old-time farmers and younger generations is what keeps drawing Chuck Strate back to the show year after year. Strate sat atop his 1946 orange Allis-Chalmers WC model tractor and spoke about when he first heard of the tractor show 18 years previously. His current machine is his third or fourth and he hopes to sell it in order to buy another one. Strate says that he does all of the restoration himself, from the painting to the engine. It is a time-consuming task for the 73-year-old.

“It keeps me busy,” Strate said. “I work on and off all winter.”

State says that his current tractor was in bad shape before he purchased it for $500. Now he says that he’d be happy to get around $1500 for it. It is a hobby, he says, something that doesn’t make him much money, but he enjoys the process of fixing them and is already looking ahead to his next project.

“I’ve got a sign on the front for sale,” Strate said. “It will finance the next one.”

According to Raitt, all of the proceeds from the show go toward maintaining the 33 acres of land and funding educational projects and the tractor museum. She hopes to preserve the property and use it to teach children about farming history. It is all part of a family-friendly atmosphere that Raitt hopes will encourage others to attend.

“If people have a choice of going to a show, a lot of people will just choose ours because they love coming here, they love the property, they like how we treat them,” Raitt said. “We are known as the nicest and friendliest tractor and engine show.”